Packers defense impresses in win against Buffalo

Clay Matthews is quickly become one of the most feared names in the league to opposing quarterbacks. After a three sack game against the Eagles, the Bills had a week to gameplan against Dom Capers 3-4 scheme and all the blitzes thrown at the offense, although all the planning couldn't stop Matthews from recording three more sacks and leading the Packers defense to a blowout win Sunday over the Bills. When Matthews wasn't wreaking havoc though the rest of the Packers defense was playing near perfect football. The only blemish on the Packer’s defense was the sole scoring drive Buffalo had in the second quarter. Brandon Chillar and rookie safety Morgan Burnett both picked off Trent Edwards and held the Bills to only 186 total yards. The run defense looked a little suspect at moments as the Bills combined for over 120 yards on the ground, but that was the only way Buffalo could really move the ball as the secondary showed a lot of improvement from last week's game with Philadelphia. The secondary continues to compensate remarkably well for Al Harris' in his absence, which should ease all Packer fan’s worries as his return date is uncertain.

The offense also improved from last week as Aaron Rodgers saw the field much better and stayed out of harm’s way throwing for over 250 yards and 2 touchdowns while adding one more on the ground. Perhaps an even more important statistic than that is he wasn't sacked all day, which is a going to create momentum for an offensive line that has been considered by many to be the weak point of a very explosive offense. The running game was spearheaded by Brandon Jackson who rushed for 29 yards on 11 carries adding a score with the aid of John Kuhn who carried the ball 9 more times for 36 yards. Jackson had a difficult time finding holes all day and could never really get going during the game, although had to deal with a split in carries with John Kuhn who performed better than Jackson based on the fact that Kuhn is a power runner that specializes in wearing down defenders and excels in short yardage situations.

Overall the Packers looked very good against a Bills squad that is most likely going to be competing for the first round pick at the end of the year. This win will do more for momentum for the Packers than anything. The Pack was expected to dominate this game and did just that regardless of the fact as they started relatively slow entering halftime with only a 6 point lead. Green Bay showed improvement in nearly every aspect other than the running game, which may be a weakness if Jackson doesn't start finding holes and running patiently. Once again the Packer defense was stellar Sunday against a poor offense, but the group is really starting to show that they can be one of the best defenses in the league again so long as the camaraderie of this group remains high and the intensity that linebackers Clay Matthews and Nick Barnett showed stays constant through the year. The Packers now turn the page for their first Monday night game of the year against the Bears next week in Chicago, who are off to a surprisingly hot start at 2-0 defeating Dallas on Sunday following a three touchdown performance by Jay Cutler. This game will no doubt challenge both phases of the Green Bay defense, as Chicago boasts one of the top young running backs in the league in Matt Forte and a passing game that’s coming of age with young talented receivers and a former first round draft pick at quarterback. Check in later in the week for a full game preview.